Dominant thermal defects in B2-FeAl

It is shown within the framework of the ab initio statistical mechanics that the triple defect formation is not the dominant thermal excitation in stoichiometric B2-FeAl, at least at low temperatures. Therefore the customary type or analysis of magnetic susceptibility measurements exclusively in terms of triple defects may yield erroneous results for the concentration of Fe vacancies. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.